JVC 1" x 4" Full Range Neo Driver

Because we are always building fun, new projects here on the Unplggd mystery tour, we are in a constant state of trying out new parts to fit in said projects. Last week we showed you an interesting speaker that functions when it is stuck to different materials by vibrating them. This week we have picked up some old TV speakers that are a very interesting shape.

Do these even look like speakers? Not any more than what we showed you last time. The great advantage to designing them as rectangles is revealed in the amount of space they occupy on the landscape of a television. You can imagine a couple of these inserted into the sides of the structure, just within the bezel that surrounds the screen.

They come packaged in 'right' speaker boxes. For whatever reason, they had fewer 'left' speakers come from the factory and as buyouts often go, you get what's left over. Speakers are generally not directional that way at this level of the game so it has no effect on their performance- they use the same driver on each side anyway.

Specifications:

*Power handling: 10 watts RMS/20 watts max

*VCdia: 3/8" x 3-3/4"

*Le: 0.13 mH

*Impedance: 8 ohms

*Re: 6.29 ohms

*Frequency response: 147-18,000 Hz

*Fs: 147 Hz

*SPL: 80 dB 1W/1m

*Vas: 0.01 cu. ft.

*Qms: 2.87

*Qes: 1.54

*Qts: 1.0

*Xmax: 1.5 mm

*Dimensions: A: 1-3/16" x 5-5/16", B: 15/16" x 5", C: 1".

So, how do they sound?In a word(s): like good TV speakers… that is to say, kind of hollow, but it's probably a consequence of using thin walled plastic for speaker cabinets. The highs are reasonably detailed but soundstage is not as three dimensional as you might hope. To be honest, though, the raw materials seem to be there; these could be some pretty nice drivers to throw into a cool, portable solution for your iPod. As part of a 2.1 multimedia arrangement, we could see them satisfying a lot of bargain hunting, DIY audiophiles.

In fact, we tried them out with our little felty sub we built some time back to see just what a little 2.1 would result in… not too bad, actually. We had to turn the crossover way up to take as much of the mid-bass as we could with the sub, but in the end it sounded kind of full.

Actually, if you built some boxes out of MDF instead of leaving them in their stock plastic and stuck some cheapo tweets into the package, you could have a decent set of speakers for under $10 in materials….hmmm…thinking. At any rate, you can expect them to show up in DIY projects all over the net… keep your eyes peeled for what we do with them in the near future.

Two words: Two dollars. (not even.) You have no reason not to get these if you are an experimenter in audio.